[November 8, 2023] We’ve all seen supervisors who give excuses for employees who are failures in their jobs. Like the alcoholic whose family enables the alcoholic’s drinking behavior, leaders are also enabling failure in other leaders. Whatever the reason or excuse, there is an emerging trend in U.S. institutions where leaders fail to take quick, effective action to… Read More »
[November 7, 2023] It was a big big room, dark and eerily quiet. I entered the first-grade classroom on the first day in the autumn of 1959 in a little town with no traffic lights, Mer Rouge, LA., deep in the antebellum south. The teacher showed an 8mm color home video of her class from the previous school… Read More »
[November 5, 2023] “Not a Shred of Decency” blares the headlines from the New York Post on their front page. The paper’s article calls these people “anti-Israel activists,” “Israel haters,” and “loathsome anti-Israeli vandals.” Of course, the paper is going easy on them with words, but it was the publication of their faces while removing or defacing Israeli… Read More »
[November 4, 2023] Why is Veterans Day so unsatisfying? I have often thought about this question since I retired from the Army. No, I will not dismiss Veterans Day as a self-congratulatory holiday. However, to answer that question is not for the faint of heart because the answer forces us to expose the underbelly of American traditions, the… Read More »
[October 31, 2023] “It’s a bonanza!” yelled my brother Philip as he stared into his haul of goodies. He and I looked forward to Halloween because of the chocolate candy, dressing up in a costume, discovering which of our neighbors were generous and which were cheap, and seeing good friends, yet trying to figure out who was underneath… Read More »
[October 30, 2023] Leader is the root word of leadership. A leader is a person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country, “the leader of a protest group”. Remember, good leadership positively impacts lives. What qualities do leaders have to be effective? They must be a good listener. Why? Because they don’t know everything. Too many… Read More »
[October 28, 2023] Our family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1966, when I was 14 and about to start the ninth grade. That city, one of my favorites in Texas, had a mixed history of hurricanes, high humidity, lots of birds, and little emphasis on schools. When we arrived, a tropical storm had done a lot of… Read More »
[October 22, 2023] It didn’t look like much. It was old, with fading paint, rusty rims, worn-out seats, a cracked passenger window, missing window handles, and terrible gas mileage. Shortly after starting High School as a sophomore, I finished my Driver’s Education and obtained my Texas Driver’s License. A friendly neighbor sold me his old car, a 1953,… Read More »
[October 21, 2023] “Old Red” was the best coonhound (a Redbone Hound) on this side of the Mississippi River, and I was happy to know Billy, his owner, and I often went hunting with him and his dog. All three of us were each eight years old, regularly went dove hunting together, successfully, I might add, and we… Read More »
[October 16, 2023] She had a great body, was content and cooperative, and had a sweet temperament. And she seemed to like me. Every afternoon after school, I visited her, visited her family, talked to her, and helped as best I could. I was 11, and Bessy was 6, and she always seemed to appreciate me being there… Read More »